Pandemic Mother’s Day Can Still Be Special. Here’s How.

As the first-ever Pandemic Mother’s Day of our lifetimes approaches, you may be wondering just how the heck you can celebrate the mothers in your life when you shouldn’t really be leaving the house or interacting with others right now due to COVID-19.

I’m a mother of four, social distancing in our home with my husband, kids and two smelly dogs. And I’m here to offer some ideas and tips for making sure this Mother’s Day still feels special.

Ask her what she wants

If you’ve never straight-up asked the mothers in your life what would make them happiest on Mother’s Day, this is a FANTASTIC year to start, and the sooner the better. Even if she’s always seemed happy with breakfast in bed and flowers year after past year, it’s entirely possible she would like to change things up. Maybe she really wants breakfast in a bath, behind a locked door. And to replace the flowers with noise-cancelling headphones.

Plan and act now

We’re all supposed to be trying to keep our store-runs to a minimum right now. Dashing out the Saturday before Mother’s Day to browse multiple stores, even if they are open in your area, in a search for the right gift isn’t really an option. If you still need to order something, it won’t arrive before Mother’s Day (despite your Amazon Prime membership — sorry), but I think most moms will understand this year if they have to wait a bit for it to ship. Just wrap a photo of it! But still — order it now, not the day before or on Mother’s Day, if you can.

Silence costs zero dollars

I don’t speak for all mothers, but I can tell you that all I want on Mother’s Day is a break. Parenting 24/7 while social distancing is wearing me down. My 3-year-old never stops touching and talking to me. He even insists on laying on top of me while he naps. Many parents are experiencing extreme emotional and physical burn-out while we self quarantine with kids.

Some of us are on a tight budget right now, but it doesn’t cost anything (or very much when you calculate the cost of gas) to clean out her car, fill a travel cup of coffee for her, put together a great playlist on Spotify, and just let her drive around in silence for as long as she needs to. If driving is not an option, promise to let her watch TV or listen to podcasts in silence — ALONE — for as long as she wants on her day.

To me, this and any special thing, meal or experience she asked for would make for the perfect Pandemic Mother’s Day celebration.

Recognize that this is unusual

I hope we never, ever have to celebrate Mother’s Day under these circumstances again, but this can also be a great time to do something you’ve never done before. Since going to her favorite restaurant is probably not even possible, order takeout from there instead and set out a beautiful table at home. Maybe some great, new traditions will come out of this unprecedented time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jill Krause is a published author of 50 Things To Do Before You Deliver & Lactivate. She blogged at BabyRabies.com for over 10 years and now shares her life on JillKrause.com. Krause lives outside of Austin, Texas, with her husband and four children after traveling the United States and Canada in an RV for 18 months. You can find her on Instagram @JillKraus.e